Process for improving the quality and yield of hydrocarbon gases.



1. e. DAVIDSON & RJW. FORD. PROCESS FOR IMPROVING THE QUALITY AND YIELD OF HYDROCARBON GASES.

- I .APPLICATION FILED NOVLZQ, 915- I 1,229,042. Patented June 5, 1917.

JAMES GRANT DAVIDSON AND ROBERT COLUMBIA, CANADA.

PROCESS FOR IMPROVING THE QUALITY AND YIELD QE HYDROCARBON GASES.

neaaa Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 29, 1915. Serial No. 64,115.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known. that we, JAMES GRANT DAVIDSON and ROBERT WILLIAM FORD, subjects of the King of Great Britain and Ireland, and residing at Vancouver, in the county of Vancouver and Province of British Columbia, Canada,-have invented a new and useful Process for Improving the Quality and Yield of Hydrocarbon Gases, of which the following is a specification.

We have discovered that by subjecting a gas or vapor containing a hydrocarbon or hydrocarbons, such as illuminating gas, or other gas produced by the destructive dis tillation of coal or petroleum or other methods of manufacture or production, to the action of a high tension electric discharge under certain conditions, a considerable change may be effected in the final product, indicating a change in the constitution thereof; namely, an increase in. the proportion of fixed gases in the total final product, and an increase in the volume of gas produced. Our invention is based on this discovery.

An important object of our invention is to increase the percentage of fixed hydrocarbons in illuminating or similar gases, this object being attained in our invention by breaking up condensable constituents into substances of less molecular weight and less condensability.

Another object of this invention, incidental to the above, is to increase the volume of gas produced.

The accompanying drawings illustrate apparatus suitable for carrying out our invention, and referring thereto 2- Figure 1 is avertical section of one form of Such apparatus, especially adapted to apply a surging high tension current to electrodes in contact with the gas. to be treated. I

Fig. 2 is a vertical section, of another form of apparatusshowing a different form of current controlling means in thehigh.

tension circuit.

Fig. 3 is a vertical section of another form of the apparatus, adapted to subject the gas to the action of a-purely static discharge.

Referringto Fig. 1, the apparatus therein shown comprlses a conduit 1-, formed as a vertical pipe, connected at its lower end to a gas supply pipe 2 and at its'upper end to an outlet pipe 3, whereby the, gas to be treated may be conducted through said conduit. Said conduit is preferably of metal, andserves as one electrode of the discharge apparatus, the other electrode consisting, for example of a wire 4 hungfrom an in- WILLIAM FORD, .015 VANCOUVER, BRITISH I Patented June 5, 1917.

sulating support-5 at the top of the conduit 1 and extending axially in said conduit, said wire being tensioned wise.

The electrode is connected with high tension electric current supply means, consisting of a step up transformer 6, having its primary winding connected to an alternating current supply circuit 16, and its secondary winding connected at one side to ground at 14 'and at its other side to a current controlling device 8, from which a by weight 5 or otherwire 7 leads to the electrode 4. Conduit 1 is grounded as indicated at 15. Said current controlling device is here shown as of the form disclosed in the application of E. R. Wolcott and F.Rieber, filed August 3rd, 1914, Ser. No. 854,693 and comprises a plate electrode 10 and a pointed electrode 9, o posite said plate electrode and surrounde by a tube 11, having an orifice 11 between said electrodes; said tube being connected by pipe 12 to a pump '13, whereby air or other gas may be forced into the tube and through the orifice 11", a blast. of gas in the direction of the discharge between the electrodes 9 and '10. The primary effect of this blast on the discharge between the electrodes 9 and 10 is thereto from the transformer 6, by stopping, more or less completely, the current impulses in one direction and permitting the impulses in the'opposite direction to pass more freely, but another effect of this current controlling device is to cause more thereby producing 'to cause more or less rectification of the high tension alternating current supplied or less violent surging or oscillation of the a 4 (I y I manufacture, but preferably at a stage preceding the washing and scrubbing opera tions,'is led through the conduit 11, and is therein subjected to the action of a high tension silent electric discharge between the electrode4 and the-wall'of said conduit.

We'have found that the constitution of the hydrocarborrconstituents in the gas while in process of manufacture may materially changed by,the action of the-electric discharge, the general effect of the discharge being to cause a breaking up of such constituents into constituents of less molecular welght, which are not condensable under working conditions, and, hence, to mcrease the proportion of fixed hydrocarbonv constituents of the gas as compared with the other constituents, such as hydrogen, carbon mercial-s'cale, the apparatus shown in Fig.

2, which is similar to that heretofore used for electrical precipitation of suspended matter from gases, may be employed. In

this apparatus, the gas is conducted through a plurality of conduits formed as vertical pipes 21, connected at their lower ends to supply header 22 and at their upper ends to outlet header23, the discharge electrode 24 being formed .as wires hung axially in said pipes from insulated support 25. The pipes 21 are grounded as at 26 and the electrodes 24 are connected by wire 27 to a current modifying means 28 which may be a devicesuch as shown at 8 in Fig. 1 or may be a mechanical rectifier of theu'sual rotary type, included in the high tension circuit of a step up transformer 30, said rectifier having a ground connection 31. The rotor 34 of the rotary rectifier 28 is driven in synchronism with the alternating current in usual manner and the stator contacts of the rectifier may be placed so as to interrupt-the circuit at any desired phase relation. By this means we are enabled to break the circuit under conditions which may cause more or less surging, to increase or decrease the amount of surging, as desired. Our invention may be carried out in this apparatus substantially as above described, the circuit controlling means 28 being preferably adjusted to produce considerable' surging of the high tension cur-' rent, so as to increase to a maximum 'the amount of change produced in the gas being treated.

Our invention may also, in some cases, be

1 carried out byapplying alternating current from an al ernating circuit or from, a transformer, directly to the .gasto be treated,

without the use of any current modifying means. .Thus, as shown in Fig. 2, the cur rent from transformer 30 may be conducted to the discharge electrodes 24, by closing aswitch 36g Our invention may also be carried out by subjecting the gas to the action of a purely static discharge, for example in the apparatus shown in Fig. 3, consisting of a tube 40 of glass quartz or like material, within which extends axially a discharge electrode 41, said tube being surrounded by a conductor 42, and the electrode 41 and conductor 42 being connected to opposite sides of ahigh tension circuit.

-Said high tension circuit may include a current controlling device 44 similar to the device shown at 8 in Fig. 1, for modifying the high tension alternating current from a transformer 45, or ifdesired, said device may be cut out by a switch 43 and the wire 46 leading to. electrode 41 may then be in direct connection with one side of said transformer, the other side of .the transformer being grounded at 47 and the conductor42 being grounded as indicated .at 48. In carrying out our invention in this apparatus the gas is passed through the,

tube 40, by supply and outlet connections 50 and 51, and is subjected in said tube to the action of a purely static discharge.

a If the switch 43 is closed the discharge will be simplythat due to the high tension alternating E. M. F. impressed on the electrode members 41 and 42 by the transformers; but by opening said switch the current may be modified so as to be surging or oscillatory in character as well as more or less rectified.

The breaking up or cracking of the hydrocarbons is effected according to our invention directly by energy supplied from I the electrical current, the effect of the process as above described being to produce energy in the gas at a sufficiently rapid rate and under such conditions as to break up some or all of the. molecules of the hydrocarbons into molecules of hydrocarbons of less molecular weight.

What we claim is:

1. The process of treating a gas containing hydrocarbons which consists in subject ing it to the action of a high tension silent electrical discharge, in such-manner as to convert hydrocarbon constituents in the gas into constituents of less molecular weight and less condensability, the energy required for such conversion of the hydrocarbon constituentsbeing derived directly from the electrical discharge. I

2. Theprocess of treating a gas containing hydrocarbons which consists in sub jecting it to the action of a high tension silent electrical discharge, in such manner r as to break up hydrocarbons in the gas into hydrocarbons of lessmolecular weight and. less condensability; the energy required for so breaking up hydrocarbons in the gas being derived directly from the electricaldischarge.

3. The process of treating a gas containing hydrocarbons which consists in subjecting it to the action of a;high tension silent electrical discharge to change the constitution of the hydrocarbons by means of the energy-of such electrical discharge, in such manner as to increase the final volume of the gas produced from a given amount of material. x

4. The process of treating a gas containing hydrocarbons which consists in passing it between electrodes and applying to such electrodes a surging high tension electric current, in such manner as to change the constitution of the gas by the energy of the electric discharge and to increase the percentage of fixed hydrocarbon constituents therein. 4

vJAMES GRANT DAVIDSON. ROBERT WILLIAM FORD. 

